It rained the very next day.
He Yan asked He Yun Sheng to grab some money to hire a craftsman to repair the dilapidated roof. Spring was nearing its end and summer was approaching. Chances of rain would only increase, and the roof of her room was the only one intact in the He family's house. Both He Sui's and He Yun Sheng's rooms had copper pots strewn all over the floor to catch the dripping water droplets, and upon entering their rooms, it looked rather like they were selling pots.
The roof was quickly repaired with solid green tiles. He Yan pondered for a while and changed the quilt and pillows in the house as they had cotton peeking out at some places.
He Yun Sheng stepped into the house and beckoned, "He Yan, come and take a look."
He Yan was baffled when she saw He Yun Sheng pull out a piece of paper from his bosom and told her, "Yesterday, I wrote down all the academies in the capital that are still viable. Would you like to check them out together today?"
"Now?" He Yan asked. "Are you asking me to come with you?"
He Yun Sheng's face flushed a little with annoyance as he turned his back to her, "I just told you."
"Oh, well, then how about I accompany you?" He Yan replied.
This young man had an awkward temperament, but he was quite cute and relatively harmless. When He Yan walked into the yard, she saw that the horse Xiao Jue had given He Yun Sheng yesterday was standing in the corner, and He Yun Sheng had also built it a simple stable.
The family, being poor, was unable to raise horses. Only chickens and ducks had been raised in the yard. At this time, there was a giant animal, which was really strange. The horse was eating grass with its head down, the forge wiped clean and the yard neat and tidy.
Seeing He Yan looking at the horse, He Yun Sheng proudly praised, "Xiang Xiang1 is very beautiful."
He Yan almost doubted that she had heard it wrong, "What did you call it?"
"Xiang Xiang!" He Yun Sheng replied matter-of-factly, not noticing her tone as he continued, "I noticed yesterday that she's a female horse. Since she's with me now, I've given her another name. Xiang Xiang is a name that girls will definitely like."
He Yan: "... as long as you're happy."
He Yan had already advised him to study more, but He Yun Sheng refused to listen. If a person as fastidious as Xiao Jue found out that the horse he had casually gifted was given such a name by He Yun Sheng, it would definitely be the ultimate disgrace in his horse-giving career.
He Yun Sheng didn't feel that there was anything wrong with the name. Though he tried hard to hide it, he couldn't stop being happy; and He Yan was too lazy to be bothered about him.
The He family didn't have any horses before and naturally no horse-carriages, so He Yan and He Yun Sheng both walked on the streets with umbrellas above their heads. He Sui went to the drill fields early in the morning. After He Yan got up in the morning, she saw that the bruises at the corner of her mouth had healed up and were barely visible, so she decided to go out without wearing a veil.
There were no benefits in going out while wearing a veil. Now that she had a different identity, she could observe the town without worrying. After careful selection, He Yun Sheng noted down the names of a total of four schools on the paper. When He Yan looked at it, she found that those schools gave most priority to martial arts.
That was good, too. With his appearance, He Yun Sheng didn't seem like he intended to take the civil service route——then again, he really wasn't made for that kind of job, otherwise he wouldn't have named his horse 'Xiang Xiang.'
YOU ARE READING
Rebirth of a Star General
ActionThe ancient saying goes: Most generals come from Guan Xi, while ministers come from Guan Dong. He Yan was born to be a Star General. She was merely a stepping stone for her family, and was used as her brother's substitute. She had fought on the batt...
